Why doesn’t Djokovic play aggressively all the time?

[socallefty]

I always wonder why Djokovic doesn’t play aggressively all the time in his matches as he tends to dominate his opponents when he does that. He usually gets into trouble when he starts passively or takes his foot off the gas during the middle of a match. The only instances I can remember him losing when playing aggressively are to Nadal on Parisian clay (2013 and 2020 come to mind).

His problem with many lost Slam finals in that 2012-2014 time frame was lack of aggression. After Becker became his coach, he played more aggressively and has kept it up (except during injury slump in 2016-18) to win a higher % of the Slams he plays. But, he sometimes reverts back to his passive self in early rounds and smaller tournaments. This is unlike someone like Federer who always played aggressively from the baseline.

Is it physical where Djokovic with his slimmer frame can’t play aggressively all through the year in every match? Or is it too mentally taxing for him to play aggressively all year long? Or is it a strategy where he saves his body by playing more defensively in early rounds of tournaments or when he has a big lead in a match? It does come back to bite him sometimes especially in the shorter Best of 3 format.

I think if he played aggressively all year long and his body holds up, he will be a dominant #1 in the rankings still as no one can touch him when he is in that kind of mood and form except possibly Nadal at Roland Garros and a couple of other slow clay tournaments where Djokovic can’t hit through him.

 

[HFK]

He's not as effective when he plays aggressively. He's a high-level pusher and that's why he's so successful.

 

[Fintft]

Tennis being a sport of errors, that's why he is playing the percentages.
Or he "plays like a tiger" meaning consistently against weaker players.

 

[GabeT]

He's not as effective when he plays aggressively. He's a high-level pusher and that's why he's so successful.

Anyone claiming that Djokovic is a simple baseline grinder should not be taken seriously.
He is one of the best at controlled agression and point construction, exploiting weaknesses etc.

 

[mahatma]

I think his natural mould is controlled aggression which makes him unique and one of the most accomplished tennis players of his generation.

I am not sure when did he become an ultra aggressive baseliner. Maybe throwing caution to the wind happens with him, but it’s rare and when his back is against the wall. Beyond that it’s all about point construction and making the opponent go for broke from disadvantageous positions.

Are there any stats which you have which show that he has got more aggressive recently or during the said period in 2012-15.

 

[DSH]

If Djokovic played like Sampras or Federer he would have lost much more and would have fewer GS titles, without a doubt.

 

[HFK]

Why is Medvedev Djokovic's worse match-up? Because at his best he can be better than Djokovic at being Djokovic.

 

[socallefty]

I am not saying he should play so aggressively that his error rate goes up so much that he is in danger of losing. There are matches where he hits harder, changes angles often, hits closer to the lines etc. and still keeps errors low enough to dominate his opponent. Then there are other match where he starts very passively, loses the first set and then ramps up his play.

In the Wimbledon 2019 final, he played passively the whole match and it was obviously his calculation that Federer would not beat him in that mode - but, Federer came within a point of doing so. Against Medvedev, he has lost every match where he plays passively and started beating him more easily once he started playing more aggressively including coming to net more often.

Aggression is not just hitting harder or coming to net - whenever Djokovic decides to hit the ball earlier on the rise and go down the line often, he takes time away from his opponents and it is as effective as those who hit harder to take time away.

For those who think Djokovic is a defensive player, I can only assume that they have never seen him play in person or maybe even seen pros play in person. He is always amongst the top players in terms of pace of his shots and unlike most of the hard hitters, he hits the ball early and takes even more time away from opponents. You don’t win 21 Slams and win so many fast-court tournaments by being a defensive baseliner as some of his detractors make him out to be. He is a fabulous player to watch in person because of the constant pressure he puts his opponents under where he makes them run a lot without making errors.

 

[Robert F]

Djokovic has really grown his game with experience.
He is in no way a pusher. He plays virtually text book tennis, on most shots it seems he picks the best high percentage shot with aggression.
Rarely does he appear to be taking wild cuts at the ball or forcing aggression. He is building the point and making life tough for his opponent.
You drive a heavy deep ball to the corner, Djoker won't go for a winner unless he is really, really pushed to the edge. Instead he resets the point but not with some floating lob or desperate moonball, he drives it deep and heavy--but with smart margin. Making it harder for his opponent to attack it again.

When guys are really on, Djoker does one of two things:

1.) He waits them out, continuing to make them work for every point. Djoker might not be winning them, but he is putting pressure on his opponent to continue to hit out of their socks which is really hard to do. Other guys might try to out hit with winners only to add up the UE and end the set quicker. Djoker makes the "on" player earn each an every point. Once they start to lose that rhythm, Djoker steps it up enough to turn things in his favor. I'd argue he took this strategy in Wimb 2019 vs. Fed He was very patient and just hung in with fed in many sets. Then in the TB's just elevated enough to steal it.

2.) He takes just a little more risk. Not a lot, he doesn't appear to be swinging for the fences. But instead of hitting heavy balls 2 feet from the lines he might start placing it more often 1 foot from the lines. But he does this only if he has to. If he is beating a guy by hitting 2 feet within the lines, why take the extra risk. Fed was good at this too. Both of them would take more margin against the slow movers and hit closer to the lines against backboards or guys who were outhitting them for the day.

 

[Kralingen]

Why is Medvedev Djokovic's worse match-up? Because at his best he can be better than Djokovic at being Djokovic.

Lol these new users man

 

[HFK]

Lol these new users man

I don't get it.

 

[Fabresque]

It’s important to time when the aggressiveness is.

 

[Fabresque]

Why is Medvedev Djokovic's worse match-up? Because at his best he can be better than Djokovic at being Djokovic.

The H2H is 9-4 Djokovic and it’s currently a 4 match win streak for Djokovic.

If anything, Djokovic is increasingly becoming a problem for Medvedev, not the other way around.

 

[HFK]

The H2H is 9-4 Djokovic and it’s currently a 4 match win streak for Djokovic.

If anything, Djokovic is increasingly becoming a problem for Medvedev, not the other way around.

Before yesterday it was 8-4 but very, very close to being 7-5.

Also let's not forget Djokovic lost the most important match of his life to Medvedev.

 

[Fabresque]

Before yesterday it was 8-4 but very, very close to being 7-5.

Also let's not forget Djokovic lost the most important match of his life to Medvedev.

New User. Checks out.

 

[HFK]

New User. Checks out.

Can you explain this to me? @Kralingen said the same thing.

 

[GabeT]

New User. Checks out.

‘New’ user

 

[HFK]

‘New’ user

What's going on????

 

[Kralingen]

I don't get it.

TTW always has these dudes signing up to spout BS

“Better at being Djokovic than Djokovic” can barely hit topspin, returns from Mars, can’t play on grass or clay, and basically keels over every time he plays Nadal?

 

[mahatma]

Lol ttw at its unwelcoming best to “new” users. It’s a forum for fathers and grandpas. Lol

 

[HFK]

TTW always has these dudes signing up to spout BS

“Better at being Djokovic than Djokovic” can barely hit topspin, returns from Mars, can’t play on grass or clay, and basically keels over every time he plays Nadal?

Dude! Medvedev is a very good player, what's wrong with you?! What you just wrote about him is BS, are you also a new user????

 

[jm1980]

He's not as effective when he plays aggressively. He's a high-level pusher and that's why he's so successful.

In tennis you win the point by hitting one more shot in than your opponent, it really doesn't matter how it's done

The term "pusher" is pure sour grapes from those who fail to understand this very basic concept

 

[DSH]

Lol ttw at its unwelcoming best to “new” users. It’s a forum for fathers and grandpas. Lol

New gen users suck as Tsitsipas, Zverev and Medvedev?

 

[Kralingen]

Lol ttw at its unwelcoming best to “new” users. It’s a forum for fathers and grandpas. Lol

And sons of course

 

[MichaelNadal]

He only does that with Nadal

 

[mahatma]

And sons of course

Even some daughters are sons here. That's the level of generalization, son.

 

[NeutralFan]

He's not as effective when he plays aggressively. He's a high-level pusher and that's why he's so successful.

Welcome to ttw new user, son! Enjoy posting.

 

[HFK]

Welcome to ttw new user, son! Enjoy posting.

I just don't get these comments.

 

[NeutralFan]

I just don't get these comments.

That's okay,son!

 

[HFK]

That's okay,son!

You've been around for less than a year, are you not a new user?

 

[mahatma]

You've been around for less than a year, are you not a new user?

Some users are born father/ grandfathers. You on the other hand. Son.

 

[HFK]

That's okay,son!

Oh look... when you joined people were saying the same stuff as me... and now you're the bully... hypocrite...

Medvedev slams the Crowd .

The other thread has the post match interview and ill drop this here too where he implied the people doing the chant have low IQ How to put it politely, took Med long enough to find out.

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

 

[NeutralFan]

Oh look... when you joined people were saying the same stuff as me... and now you're the bully... hypocrite...

Medvedev slams the Crowd .

The other thread has the post match interview and ill drop this here too where he implied the people doing the chant have low IQ How to put it politely, took Med long enough to find out.

tt.tennis-warehouse.com

When did i bully you? I said welcome new user, son! how is that bullying?

 

[OldschoolKIaus]

Cause pushing is cool these days.

 

[Mike Sams]

Why didn't Safin play like he did at AO2005 all the time?

 

[Silverbullet96]

If you're referring to yesterday's match against Medvedev, it's a different thing simply playing aggressive than playing aggressive because of an injury which completely throws the opponent off mentally. Yesterday was the latter, probably he won't be as effective if he did it purposefully as a strategy as you think.

 

[One]

Over the time he has found out that his ability to chase down balls, and to put one more ball in the court is more effective than playing agressive tennis.

Just compare 2011 to 2015. In latter, he was much more passive as he knew his body is so agile and flexible that playing agressive tennis might produce more errors. Its simple cost benefit analysis.

Look his game in 2007 and 2008, even more agressive than 2011, but he was a kid back then with fragile body.

 

[NoleFam]

He didn't lose 2012 RG and 2013 USO finals because he didn't play aggressively. He hit way more winners than Nadal in that USO final. He also hit way more errors, whiich is why he lost. I don't remember him being passive in the 2013 Wimbledon final either. He just played really bad. Back then, Djokovic had a tendency to go for too much in tight situations, and at the wrong time, in big matches when he didn't have the shot and was pressing.

 

[socallefty]

Over the time he has found out that his ability to chase down balls, and to put one more ball in the court is more effective than playing agressive tennis.

Just compare 2011 to 2015. In latter, he was much more passive as he knew his body is so agile and flexible that playing agressive tennis might produce more errors. Its simple cost benefit analysis.

Look his game in 2007 and 2008, even more agressive than 2011, but he was a kid back then with fragile body.

In 2007-2008, he didn’t know the right balance of aggression and consistency needed to become the top player in the world. In 2011, he learned it. Then he went backwards and go too passive for three years which cost him many Slams in his prime. Under Becker, he went back to being very aggressive in 2014-16 and that’s why he was so dominant. The difference from 2011 was that his serve was more precise and his groundstrokes had more topspin than 2011 while still being amongst the hardest-hit on tour - to me, he was BOAT level in this period.

After his comeback from injury in mid-2018, he has vacillated between playing aggressively in many matches and passively in others. I never know which Djokovic is going to show up on any given day. But there is no question in my mind that the more aggressive version of him is the one who gets the victory easier. I think that since 2011, he knows the upper limits of his aggression where he can keep the error rate low enough to win and he never exceeds that. But sometimes his winner rate is too low and he is waiting for opponents to make errors which more often than not costs him sets and service breaks.

I can never figure out when he is going to start matches/tournaments passively and when he is not even though I tend to watch all his matches. That’s why I am trying to figure out if others have seen more of a pattern of when the passive version of him shows up.

 

[The returner]

Not his style , roadman.

 

[aldeayeah]

He did play more aggressive in '07-'08 with the big forehand, but Nadal taught him the Good Tennis and the joys of percentage play.

 

[chjtennis]

If he did, he wouldn't have won 20 slams and been at no.1 for as long as he has been.

 

[Born_to_slice]

He's not as effective when he plays aggressively. He's a high-level pusher and that's why he's so successful.

Translation - "I know nothing about tennis, nothing at all."

 

[Anni.Angel]

He's not as effective when he plays aggressively. He's a high-level pusher and that's why he's so successful.

The modern courts are built for pushers. Everyone in the modern age is a pusher except Federer who is an all court player. And Fed is a unicorn.

 

[Sudacafan]

He saves his aggression for the ball boys.

 

[Milanez82]

He's not as effective when he plays aggressively. He's a high-level pusher and that's why he's so successful.

So how do his shots often average higher speed then the opponents?

 

[joshuayuan]

I always wonder why Djokovic doesn’t play aggressively all the time in his matches as he tends to dominate his opponents when he does that. He usually gets into trouble when he starts passively or takes his foot off the gas during the middle of a match. The only instances I can remember him losing when playing aggressively are to Nadal on Parisian clay (2013 and 2020 come to mind).

His problem with many lost Slam finals in that 2012-2014 time frame was lack of aggression. After Becker became his coach, he played more aggressively and has kept it up (except during injury slump in 2016-18) to win a higher % of the Slams he plays. But, he sometimes reverts back to his passive self in early rounds and smaller tournaments. This is unlike someone like Federer who always played aggressively from the baseline.

Is it physical where Djokovic with his slimmer frame can’t play aggressively all through the year in every match? Or is it too mentally taxing for him to play aggressively all year long? Or is it a strategy where he saves his body by playing more defensively in early rounds of tournaments or when he has a big lead in a match? It does come back to bite him sometimes especially in the shorter Best of 3 format.

I think if he played aggressively all year long and his body holds up, he will be a dominant #1 in the rankings still as no one can touch him when he is in that kind of mood and form except possibly Nadal at Roland Garros and a couple of other slow clay tournaments where Djokovic can’t hit through him.

I remember he said he doesn't want to have too much oscillation, like having too much difference in up moments and down moments.

I've seen some players who started a match so hot by hitting winners all the time here and there but then they completely broke down and started hitting many errors.

He is very measured and controlled. I think this is why he is very strong mentally when facing a critical point in a game such as facing match points.

I think by not having too much oscillation a player can keep a steady emotion and can also solidify their mental strength.

 

[Blahovic]

Nadal talked about this a few years ago -- before you can play aggressively, you have to be playing well.

Djokovic ups his aggression when he's feeling good and timing the ball well. Obviously that's not the case all the time, so the default is to be more conservative to avoid giving the opponent free points.

 

[veelium]

If you're referring to yesterday's match against Medvedev, it's a different thing simply playing aggressive than playing aggressive because of an injury which completely throws the opponent off mentally. Yesterday was the latter, probably he won't be as effective if he did it purposefully as a strategy as you think.

He always plays rather aggressive against Medvedev.
I don't think he wants to grind for hours against Medvedev if he can avoid it.
Against the likes of Berretini, Korda, the not-so-good movers overall, he knows he's gonna win more of the long ralleys if he just stays in the point long enough.

 

[RS]

Probably hurt Djokovic in some matches but helped him in other matches so swings and rounderbouts.

He can't bulldoze the ball like a Roddick or even a Stan it's not his game IMO.